A Little Adab is Better Than A Lot of Good Actions

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Adab is the right way of doing something. Islam advocates adab so as to perfect the Islamic personality and bring harmony among people. You are this precious stones that are jagged all over- proper manners is part of chiseling this jewel so that it begins to become radiant. Proper adab bring us closer to the hearts and minds of others particularly from those who are calling to Allah (da'e), scholars and students of knowledge. Every Muslim living on this earth is an ambassador of their faith- in the way they act, not in what they say but how they are saying them.

Adab is not this marginal matter, rather it is central to Islam. A little adab is better than a lot of good actions. Why? Good manners is what bring excellence into one's actions. It is in excellence that one's good deeds are multiplied. Why you act with excellence? To seek the pleasure of Allah. A good deed is rewarded 10 times to 700 times and Allah gives more to whoever He wills. If you do something with excellence its reward is multiplied exponentially and its impact on our lives is much greater.

You can go and visit your parents every day of the week but if you don't uphold good character you get some reward for visiting your parents but it won't be like the one with good adab, outwardly and inwardly.

Good character will be the heaviest righteous deed to be placed on a person’s scale of deeds on the Day of Judgment. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said, “No deed that will be placed on the scale of deeds [on the Day of Judgment] will be heavier than good character. Indeed, a person with good character will attain the rank of those with a good record of voluntary fasts and prayers.” [Sunan At-Tirmidhi]

So, uphold good manners and always improve your manners.

It is of the adab of Islam to know the value of one’s word, not to give unless one intends to keep it, and to keep it once it has been given. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks he lies, when he promises he breaks it, and when entrusted with something he betrays it” [Bukhari]

It is of the adab of the high path of Islam to be honest when one speaks. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Honesty certainly leads to goodness, and goodness leads to Paradise. Truly, a man keeps speaking the truth until he is inscribed as being true through and through. And lying leads to going wrong, and going wrong leads to hell. Truly, a man lies and lies until he is inscribed as being a liar through and through” [Muslim]

It is of the adab of the high path of Islam to completely abandon and shun guile, deceit, scornfulness, or sarcasm because these are unlawful. Allah Most High says, “O you who believe, let no men scorn other men, for they might well be better than they are. And let no women scorn other women, for they might well be better than they. And do not find fault with one another, or give each other insulting nicknames” [Qur’an 49:11]. And Allah Most High says, “Woe to whoever demeans others behind their back or to their face” [Qur’an 104:1]. And the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Let there be no harming another, or harming him back. Whoever harms another Allah shall harm, and whoever gives trouble to another Allah shall give trouble to” [Hakim]

It is of the adab of the high path of Islam to abandon lying, for it is unlawful. Allah Most High curses liars by saying, “May liars be slain.” [Qur’an 51:10], in which slain means “cursed” according to the Arabic idiom likening the accursed, who loses every good and happiness, to the slain, who loses life and every blessing. The Qur’anic exegete al-Khazin notes that “May liars be cursed” originally referred to those who sat on the various roads outside Makkah warning people against the words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) to keep them from becoming Muslim. The verse, however, like other Qur’anic verses, is not limited to the original circumstances in which it was revealed, but applies universally, to the end of time. Those who lie, except in circumstances in which Sacred Law permits it, are cursed by Allah.

It is unlawful to lie, except when making up between two people, or lying to an enemy in war, or to one’s wife. It is also unlawful to praise or blame another with an untruth. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Lying is wrong, except in three things: the lie of a man to his wife to make her content with him; a lie in war, for war is deception; or a lie to settle trouble between people” [Ahmad]. Ibn Jawzi has said, “The criterion for it is that every praiseworthy objective in Sacred Law that cannot be brought about without lying is permissible to lie for if the objective is permissible, and obligatory to lie for if the objective is obligatory.” When lying is the only way to attain one’s right, one may lie about oneself or another, provided it does not harm the other. And it is obligatory to lie to if necessary to protect a Muslim from being murdered. But whenever one can accomplish the objective by words that merely give a misleading impression with actually being false, it is unlawful to tell an outright lie, because it is unnecessary.

When Abu Bakr was dying, he sent for ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (Allah be well pleased with both of them), and told him, “O ‘Umar, if you are given authority over the people, fear Allah and hold fast to what is right. For the balance of those whose scale pans are heavy on Resurrection Day [with good deeds] shall only be heavy for their having followed what is right and its heaviness upon them; and it befits the balance scale when what is right is placed in it tomorrow to be heavy. And the balance of those whose scale pans are light on Resurrection Day [because of few good deeds] shall only be light for their having followed what is wrong and its ease upon them; and it befits the balance scale when what is wrong is placed in it tomorrow to be light. And know that there are works for Allah at night that He does not accept during the day, and that there are works during the day that He does not accept at night. And that He does not accept a supererogatory work of worship until the obligatory has been done.”

May Allah grant us noble character and help us follow the footsteps of His beloved Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and his righteous companions. Ameen.

And Allah knows best and He alone grant success.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.

Wassalaam